


Thrill in His Blood

by Lolibat



Series: Thrill pair drabbles [1]
Category: Tennis no Oujisama | Prince of Tennis
Genre: Gen, Short Drabble, That one match that started everything, Thrill Pair, if you really squint
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-16
Updated: 2017-04-16
Packaged: 2018-10-19 15:57:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 594
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10643190
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lolibat/pseuds/Lolibat
Summary: He felt the thrill in his blood, his soaked shoes skidding across the pavement. It is an indescribable feeling, a drug without a cure. He thinks that this alone is the moment that counts. This game is a defining moment, for the present is ever changing. A year from now, ten years from now, the game will not be the same. The thrill will not be the same. Will there still be a game, or will they be worlds apart?





	

He felt the thrill in his blood, his soaked shoes skidding across the pavement. It is an indescribable feeling, a drug without a cure. He felt each beat of his heart, a loud drumming that drowns out the beat of the rain. A hit, and a jump, and a dash to the other side of the court. He ignores the rain that steadily drips down his hair and onto his shirt, already soaked through. The humidity in the air makes it hard to breathe, but he barely notices his own breath, merely requiring his lungs to supply him with enough oxygen. All that matters, in this one tiny moment of life, is the _thrill_.

Here, on this court- on this battlefield- nothing in the world matters as much as this one game. One point that is as precious as the next, to be savored and remembered. As much as the thrill that sings through his blood, the rush of the game and the struggle for a win. For once, his desire to _win_ , more than anything else, rises to the forefront of his mind. This- this is what tennis is about. The will to win, the thrill of the chase and the dominance of the game. It sings through him, chasing away exhaustion as his heart beats in time with his ambition and thoughts. It beats with a loudness that he cannot ignore.

In front of him is an opponent. Not just an opponent, but a genius, though that could be said of them both. A genius with unknown talents, a mountain with uncharted heights. Yet another adversity to overcome, a name to write in a book some years down the line, but this one- this one is different. He looks deep into his opponent’s cerulean eyes, for once open and serious. He sees his opponent’s hand, shaking with adrenaline and realizes that his too, shakes as well.

They enjoy their game, the two of them. He didn’t know when, and he didn’t know how, but somewhere along the way, it became less of a game and something more. Something on a knife’s edge, taut with the equal desire to win from both sides. “How far can the genius be pushed before he crumbles?” Both of them contemplate the question and their determination to win drives them higher with each step, each leap and twist. The rain splatters about them, and neither of them care. They fail to see the lightning striking across the sky, their eyes glued solely on the neon yellow ball flying across the air. They hear the rumble and roar of lightning, but they pay it no mind.

The sound of a racket’s strings as it hits the ball only adds to the urgency and the thrill of the game. He thinks that this alone is the moment that counts. This game is a defining moment, for the present is ever changing. A year from now, ten years from now, the game will not be the same. The thrill will not be the same. Will there still be a game, or will they be worlds apart? Drifted away from each other, their paths to never cross again. Will they still recognize each other? One genius, in pursuit of another talent far away from tennis, the other reaching for a top he has yet to see. Their divergent paths lead them away, as is the natural course of life.

However, in the present, in this one moment where they cross, it only brings a thrill that neither of them can forget.

**Author's Note:**

> Mandy: So, I got bored. Thrill pair drabble written in ten minutes because thrill pair needs more love. Also, I don’t feel like doing the work I should be doing, so I decided to do something semi-productive. I haven’t seen PoT for years (practically since I was a kid), but thrill pair was always my first pair in the fandom. I can’t believe there aren’t more good thrill pair fics out there, and I’d love to write a long thrill pair fic, but that would require a lot of research into tennis as a sport, and I don’t have time for that.


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